


my first and only (half) love

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Coming of Age, Crushing, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Growing Up, M/M, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, Some angst, Swearing, bad humour, mafia, organised crime, they're not good church boys tbh w u haha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:47:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22231288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The local fuc--mafia boy Park Chanyeol falls for the cute guy singing in the church choir.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 41
Kudos: 106
Collections: Anonymous





	1. FIRST KISS

-

Their city was divided into territories: broken by borders, run by separate families, with various agendas and their own brand of muscle.

Chanyeol was a Park and therefore he was confined to the Upper West and any of the borderline spaces shared by allies. Any mingling over the other districts required a strict and coherent reason. This tended to be organised by the superiors, which in Chanyeol’s case was his father and his associates.

He would discover, on a warm autumn evening, that getting into a fist fight with the sons of the Upper East gang was not a strict and coherent reason.

The young Park would receive his punishment kneeling on the floor of his family restaurant’s basement, still bleeding from the upper lip, eye twitching from the jab he received to the orbital. Stood in a small semi-circle around him were his father, his uncles and his mother who was already holding the warm damp towelette for his eye.

The final punishment was this.

No phone. No car. No internet. A thoroughly humiliating grounding for an eighteen year old high school graduate with one year of unemployment proudly under his belt.

“--only _church_. You can only leave the house for church. Try to leave this house for any other reason and I’ll do you in myself.” His father yelled strictly before leaving the room in a huff.

The rest followed until only his mother was left. 

“Oh honey,” she whispered, taking his face into her hands as she wiped his eye, “Why would you do that?”

“Don’t like funny business.” Chanyeol muttered. He patted his pockets down for a cig but was quickly whacked in the head by his Mom.

“Stop moving baby, let me clean you up.” She sighed. “And what funny business was it?”

“Nonaya.”

“What?”

“Nonaya.” 

“Nonaya?”

“None-a-ya business.” 

Chanyeol smirked. His mom sighed louder and gave up.

Good. It was good that she dropped it because he was sure that she wouldn’t want to hear about it. Hear about how the prissy boy he kicked in was his fuck buddy. The fuck buddy he fucked every week behind everyone’s back. The fuck buddy who double-crossed him and made him lose his cool. The fuck buddy he won’t be fucking anymore.

“I’m getting my phone back, right?” he asked.

The answer was a no - which meant no fucking and no porn.

“Fuck.” Chanyeol muttered. What a double whammy of fuckery.

They might as well have just left him in a coma.

As his Dad said, he could only leave the house for church so like a good boy that’s what he did. Maybe he just wanted to hurt himself but he, hand on heart, had never missed a Sunday service. Even if the church wasn’t a big fan of cocksuckers, he had always liked the whole fancy dance of Christian service. The clothes. The ceremony. The singing. It was like a live film he got to see for free every week and he never got confused about anything because the plot was always the same.

At least it was until the congregation was suddenly moved. Imagine how pissed he was when he found out that the father at his local parish got done for fiddling funds and they had to move the congregation to a whole different church on the other side of the city.

A smaller one with uncomfortable benches and far less bling on the altar. It was headed by a priest who couldn't sing for shit and half the people who attended weren't even dressed in their Sunday proper. Disgraced, Chanyeol was seconds away from throwing the old scrappy hymn book down in protest when something stopped him.

Him. This was when he saw _him_.

The guy. The choir boy. About five foot eight. Black haired. Four-eyed. He looked like a cartoon character but when he sang _ave maria_ it was like he meant it. He thought for a while that he just liked his singing but then he saw him smile.  
It was a normal smile— the type of smile you gave at a good joke but Chanyeol had never felt something from seeing a guy smile like that before. 

He lost the words to the hymn. He just stood there and stared and _felt_ even when he had no clue about what he was feeling or why he was feeling it.

The moment stuck with him so he mentioned it to Jongin, his best friend, the next time that they met up shooting hoops. He still didn't have a phone so he wasn't able to just text him and had to describe it to him there and then. This was not his strong point so all he was able to say was that he had seen a boy and felt stuff. What kind of stuff? Dunno. Was it like, pissed-off stuff? Nah, nah. What… like sex stuff? Dunno either. Well, you gotta give me more than that. I really dunno bro. I just think my heart felt stuff. _Stuff_.

Jongin thought about it seriously before responding.

“Nah, never felt that way before." He said. "But sounds like you should ask him out on a date.” 

Chanyeol was surprised to hear that but he didn't exactly hate on the prospect. He paused and then said:

“Dunno. Never been on a date before.”

“Damn really? Well it’s easy. Just ask them out for food and make sure you pay. Cos. That’s what makes it a date. If you go half, then it ain’t a date. You have to pay… then the message is pretty clear that it's a date. Cause half the shtick with dating is not really being sure about whether a date is a date. So if you pay then there's no confusion right?"

“Makes sense.” Chanyeol didn't really see the complication in that. This is why he liked telling Jongin things. He always simplified things whilst others may be tempted to dick about. “I’ll ask him out on a date then.” 

Of course, Chanyeol shortly discovered that even when equipped with Jongin's best advice, he still found himself dicking about. Weeks went by and no date was set up because he didn't dare go up to choir boy. He came in every Sunday in his best form with all his best intentions - lit clothes, lit shoes, lit cut, moisturised and all that - but the opportunity was never taken. He wasn't chickening out per se. He would argue that it just didn't feel right. This guy was a _lot_ and he wanted everything to piece together properly.

So even though he was annoyed at himself, he stared and listened and daydreamed and for a while he thought that maybe this was where he would let this whole thing die. And then it happened. 

They spoke.

It happened on the greens outside of the church during a nice day when the congregation was milling in groups and drinking homemade vegetable juice. Chanyeol skipped that and stood leaning outside a huge fallen birch, cigarette tucked between his lips and music through his earphones. Yet even with them on full, he still heard a voice.

“Hey.”

He didn’t recognise it right away which was funny because of how much he daydreamt about the boy the voice belonged to.

“Hey.” 

It was choir guy. He stood next to him in his casual clothes - a red jumper and tight black jeans. He was so close that it freaked Chanyeol out quite a bit. He didn’t know where to look so he ended up looking over his head. Not that he looked any different. He was still cute as. 

“Kyungsoo.” He offered a hand.

“Chanyeol.” 

Polite, Chanyeol offered him a smoke but the other said no. He shrugged and said ok.

Chanyeol wasn’t a chatty small talk guy and he made it obvious by choosing not to talk to him. Instead he looked out into the road. Then he looked back at his mom. She was staying behind to cook dinner for junkies. It dawned on him then that church guy was still next to him - and he was supposed to ask him a question.

“I got a car.” Chanyeol said, cool as. “You hungry?”

Kyungsoo smiled and nodded.

“You like pizza?” A nod. Chanyeol's voice grew quieter as he asked. "I’m going to get some. Want to come with?”

Kyungsoo nodded again. Chanyeol scuffed his shoe against the square of concrete he stood on. Then he dropped the cigarette and rubbed it into the grey.

“You shouldn’t litter by the church.” He heard Kyungsoo mutter.

“Oh. Sorry.” Chanyeol bent down to pick it up. It was gross and he didn't know where to put it.

“It’s OK.” Kyungsoo pinched it from his hand and walked up to the church to throw it in the trash.

When he came back out, Chanyeol walked with him to his car. They strapped in and didn't talk at all until they were around the corner away from the church. The windows were all open and Kyungsoo's head was tilted out of the passenger side, just watching.

"You're not much of a talker then?" Chanyeol asked as he reached for the radio volume and turned up the dial. "I'll turn the radio on if that's ok."

Kyungsoo appeared to nod. Either that or he was trying to shake a bug out of his hair.

Chanyeol turned to the road and smiled at no reason in particular. He wished he could have looked at Kyungsoo much more than he was able to but he really needed to focus on driving.

There were cops everywhere on Sundays and they were all dicks. But whenever he caught a red light, he made sure he didn’t miss a chance. He had never felt like this about anyone before. He wondered if Jongin had and made a mental note to ask him next time.

Pizzas at Hoonie’s were massive. The slices were cheap and greasy and homemade to the slice. Chanyeol watched the choir boy eat at least three slices bigger than his face. He was pleased to know that they both liked meat on their pizza with all the cheeses on top.

It was when Kyungsoo finally noticed Chanyeol staring at his face that he smiled that same smile and made Chanyeol's heart do that twirl again. It was a heart-shaped smile. He never even knew that was a thing. 

Chanyeol scrunched the shirt against his chest like it was itchy. His face felt all hot too.

Kyungsoo waited until he finished chewing before asking his first question.

“So where are you from?”

“Upper West.” Chanyeol answered. He sipped his coke to cool down before asking, “You?”

“Central.” Kyungsoo said. “I go to ESU. Senior. Where do you go?”

ESU. They were a bunch of prissies. West Baptist Forever.

"I graduated last year. West Baptist.”

Kyungsoo's eyes came alive. "We play basketball against West Baptist.”

Chanyeol's eyes sized him from chest-up.

“You play Basketball?” 

“No. My friends do-" Kyungsoo laughed. "I just watch their games. The church wants to make a team actually but we don’t have enough boys.”

“How many do you need? I may know some boys who can play.”

"Woah, really?"

"Yeah why not."

"Do you play?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Oh, yeah." Kyungsoo smiled, eyes tracing him from chest up. "Of course."

"I'm the best in my team actually." Chanyeol announced. Shameless - cos it was true.

"Yeah?"

"Without question."

Kyungsoo laughed again. When he laughed, Chanyeol noticed that he seemed to look down like he was trying to hide it. 

"What's funny about that?" Chanyeol asked, genuinely curious. "You don't believe me or something?"

"Um. Well. People who say stuff like that aren't always right. At least in my experience."

It was Chanyeol who laughed now but he didn't hide it.

"Guess I'll just have to show you."

The remark wasn't intentional for any purpose but Chanyeol found himself feeling some way when Kyungsoo nodded and sipped his cola, eyes unnaturally still as he said,

"Guess you'll have to."

They stayed for another slice of pizza slice each. Chanyeol went to the pisser at the end and when he came back Kyungsoo had already paid as evidenced by the receipt on the counter.

He frowned, jaw falling slack.

“Wait. Hey. I wanted to pay.”

Kyungsoo pushed his wallet back into his pocket. “No it’s okay— you drove over here so I wanted to pay."

"But--"

"Don't worry about it."

He brushed past him leaving Chanyeol alone in his frustrations. He knew that halfsies equated to something not being a date. But what happened when the other guy pays? It was an obvious point that Jongin didn’t account for in his smarty pants explanation. Dickhead. Now what was he supposed to do?

He decided to deal with that question later. First he had to drive the cutie home.

Kyungsoo asked to be dropped off at the mall as he was meeting someone. Chanyeol didn’t ask who but Kyungsoo did mention that it was his cousin wanting to do some shoe-shopping. Girl-cousin.

They reached the mall in good time because there was rarely any traffic on Sundays. It was why Chanyeol reserved all his sleeping for Saturdays and all his social stuff on the final day of the weekend. Social stuff essentially meaning Kyungsoo and church because that was all that he occupied himself with these days.

“So, I guess this is me.” 

Chanyeol drove him right up to the mall entrance. He nodded at the words.

“See ya then.” He said. It was a natural thing to say in this situation, regardless of how much he wished he could drive him around town again.

Kyungsoo grabbed his bag and adjusted his glasses.

“Thanks for the pizza… I’ll see you next Sunday?” 

A little bubble of something grew in Chanyeol’s chest. It was the word _you_ that did it - like he was going to look out for him in the same way that he looked out for him during the choir parts of the service. He willed his smile down with a cool cough.

“Yeah, sure.” 

Kyungsoo very obviously beamed. “Okay,” he stepped out. “Next Sunday then.”

A week passes and another blessed Sunday drops on Chanyeol’s lap. This time he decided to genuinely impress. As he’d promised Kyungsoo, he brought his friends over and forced them to act out an impromptu basketball try-out for the yet unformed Church league. He wanted to seem cool and a _man of his word_ \- therefore manifesting as an infinitely better man than any of Kyungsoo’s church friends or crushes or whatever.

It seemed to work. Kyungsoo sat on a bench by the court, totally engrossed in the game and cheered along as Chanyeol’s team of six-footers demolished the pocket-sized church boys. Unfortunately, whilst he performed to his best and emerged victorious, Chanyeol realised at the end of the hour that he had barely spent any time with Kyungsoo. 

A stupid mistake considering the whole point with this game was to get the opportunity to ask him out for pizza again. 

After seeing Kyungsoo walk home with the church boys, Chanyeol was very obviously pissed off about it and spent a good few minutes huffing furiously as he dribbled on the court.

“Was that the guy then?” Jongin asked, looking over where he could still spy the sea of white shirts as the church boys crossed the main road.

“Which guy?” 

“The one you want to dick down.” Jongin smirked. “He’s the square with glasses, yeah?” 

Chanyeol shoved the basketball at him. “Square? Don’t you fucking call him square. He isn’t a square. Kyungsoo’s cool.” 

“Ah yeah? Sorry then.”

“You better be.”

Chanyeol’s blood was still boiling so Jongin knew better to tamper with him. Instead he lit a cigarette, drew a breath and passed it to him as a peace offering. 

“You know what, ‘Yeol? You don’t need it really. I saw the way he’s looking at you. You haven’t got nothing to worry about.”

Chanyeol stopped. He looked at Jongin through narrowed eyes.

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean,” Jongin placed the cigarette between Chanyeol’s fingers. “It’s obvious, man. His eyes were on you the whole time. I got no doubt. He’ll bend over for you no problem.” 

“Yeah?” He looked towards the bench where Kyungsoo had sat. “I did notice him watching me a lot--”

“Yeah, definitely bro. No doubt.”

The thought was comforting. Chanyeol smoked the cigarette and thought then that if Kyungsoo bent over for him as Jongin said, then he wouldn’t see that smile he liked so much. But he guessed that Jongin was just playing with words. What he meant was important because it meant that Chanyeol hadn’t totally killed his chances. A pizza date was still probably on the cards with church boy and that was the most important goal. 

He decided that he would keep his spirits up and try again.

“No, no-no!” 

But then, a week goes by and life goes tits up again. The Parks, alongside the criminal residents of the West side of the city, were told to stay put on Sunday morning because of potential scuffles between some traders on the border. Ironically, Chanyeol watched the entirety of his crime family abandon the house as they went off to deal with their ‘business’. They were so busy “staying put” that they completely forgot to leave someone to supervise him.

So of course he went to church. 

Unsurprisingly, the service was half-empty with most of the mob families busy with whatever was going down. Chanyeol didn’t mind as it meant that he could sit right in the middle where he would be able to see Kyungsoo sing without the priest’s ugly egg head in the way. When it came to the hymns, he made sure to catch Kyungsoo’s eye as he sang. He didn’t even need the book at this point, having memorised most of the songs. 

“Do you know where everybody went? I think this is the smallest turn-out I’ve seen in a while.” 

They met up on the grass outside the church after the service. It was a warm day with the breeze just chilly enough for two or three layers. They sat side-by-side on the freshly cut lawn; Kyungsoo, cross-legged, and Chanyeol with his long legs stretched out across him. He looked at Kyungsoo - dressed in his navy jeans and olive green hoodie. 

“You know half of your congregation is in the mob right?” Chanyeol asked. 

Kyungsoo shrugged. 

“I think it’s actually three quarters.” He said, smiling.

“Yeah, probably. Well, the mob had stuff to do so they couldn’t come. I’m sure they’ll be back next Sunday.” 

“Are you in the mob too?”

The question made Chanyeol gulp. His fingers tapped against his thigh as he thought of his answer. Luck would have it that his mind was empty. He looked at Kyungsoo and gulped again when he realised that he was staring right at him.

Kyungsoo pressed him again. 

“Are you?” 

Still empty. Fuck. Chanyeol folded his arms across his chest before collapsing back onto the grass. Sunshine slapped him right in the face as his eyes fluttered shut. He exhaled loudly. 

“Am I?” 

He heard soft laughter. 

“Why didn’t you stay home with the rest of them?” 

“Why should I?”

“Can you give me one good answer for once?” 

No frustration was detectable in his voice but Chanyeol still opened his eyes and gazed at the church boy who was staring intently with his big warm eyes, keen. Cute. But serious. 

“I could.” Chanyeol said. Then he smirked, “See, that’s one good answer, right?”

He closed his eyes. He groaned playfully after he was pinched on the arm.

“If you’re not going to ask me out, you should just go home. I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

An invisible force, with the weight of several bricks, collapsed on Chanyeol’s chest as he opened his eyes and sat up briskly. Kyungsoo’s face was beet red but he was still staring - the curiosity, now something a little more intense. A little more pleading.

“You wanna…” Chanyeol processed it before continuing. “You wanna… go out?”

His hands felt clammy and gross. Kyungsoo’s eyes lowered to the grass.

“Was that a question or- an observation. Sorry Chanyeol. I can’t tell. You’re kinda hard to read.”

“Question.” Chanyeol blurted out, half leaping out of his seat as he moved closer to Kyungsoo and his face, “Go out with me?”

They were so close their noses were almost bumping. Chanyeol wasn’t sure he had ever been so close to a pair of glasses before. His eyes, naturally, fell on Kyungsoo’s lovely lips - the same lips that would shape the one word that would make his whole damn week. The one word that would get him through the next cycle of grounding and yelling that his family would subject him to after finding out that he had left the house and nabbed his sister’s car.

“Yes.”

Kyungsoo smiled back at him.

“I’ll go out with you.”

His lips were really close but Chanyeol knew better than to take his shot like that. So he let Kyungsoo do it. Kyungsoo’s lips touched his. It wasn’t much of a kiss - more of a _touch_ but it was enough to make his heart race. 

“Are we allowed to kiss here?” Chanyeol said, half teasing. 

“Why?” Kyungsoo tilted his head. “You wanna take me home?”

Chanyeol nodded eagerly. Now _that_ was an idea. He moved in to kiss him - properly - before he was stopped with a cold finger slipping between them and pressing against his lips.

“I said we can go out. Not that you can take me home.” Kyungsoo said, adopting a sterner tone. “So, let’s go out first.”

The way he said it made Chanyeol whine in the sort of way that generally annoyed people. But Kyungsoo only laughed at him and pinched his cheek.

“You’re so fun,” he gushed before letting his hand fall and planting another little kiss on Chanyeol’s lips.

It felt like Chanyeol was being fed crumbs of a very delicious pie. He could see that the game was a losing one but he really, desperately, wanted to eat so he didn’t care that much about it. Fine - kiss me like that, like you don’t mean it because one day, you really will. You really will, church boy.

“Can I take you out now?” Chanyeol asked as he stared tensely at the other’s lips.

Kyungsoo shook his head. 

“Nope. I have a test tomorrow so I need to stay up tonight.”

Oh yeah. Chanyeol forgot that Kyungsoo was still a high schooler. 

“So, when?” 

“Dunno. I’m a real busy guy.” 

He was teasing him but Chanyeol wasn’t very responsive to that kind of act. He frowned again and was probably halfway into a bit of a strop before Kyungsoo kissed him again. It lasted longer that time - not enough for him to kiss back - which was probably a good thing as Chanyeol’s head was fast getting cloudy.

“Be patient.” Kyungsoo told him.

“But,” Chanyeol sighed loudly, “I’ve been waiting weeks and weeks already.”

“You could’ve asked me out earlier.” Kyungsoo responded. “I paid for pizza remember? Did you think that wasn’t supposed to be a date?” 

“ _Damn_.”

“Damn, right that’s a damn. Halfsies, not a date. I paid fullsies.”

All the signs had been there. Chanyeol was rarely reasonable; and definitely not a dumb shit. He really let the team down here.

“So, be patient.” Kyungsoo continued, before throwing a cautious look around them as he slipped his fingers through the gaps between Chanyeol’s and held his hand.

This had never happened to him before. Chanyeol stared at it for a good few heartbeats. He was holding hands with Kyungsoo. Was this really happening? Was he having some weird incense dream? He flexed the fingers a little before squeezing Kyungsoo’s hand lightly. He looked up and Kyungsoo’s smile had a little glow about it.

“Fine.” He said. After, “But I still want you to know that I... _half_ love you.”

Kyungsoo’s face fell and Chanyeol felt like he won with that. That was until Kyungsoo leaned in, flushed and soft-eyed, and said,

“I half-love you too.” 

It could’ve been a song. Chanyeol forgot what happened after - only remembering who he was until he was kissed again.

A few days later and Chanyeol told the story to Jongin as they were shooting hoops. From the stolen kisses right down to the ending. He was particularly curious about that final part - even when all Chanyeol wanted was a very honest prediction of when he was finally going to get some from his prospective new boy.

“Half love?” 

“Yeah.”

“Why the heck would you say that?”

Chanyeol paused and shrugged. He couldn’t really remember now. It felt like a really long time ago since it happened. It was a bit stupid to think he could think himself right back into that moment like some time traveller.

“Dunno. Just said it, didn’t I?”

“That sounds like a pretty big thing to say.”

“Nah man. Come on.” Chanyeol smiled wide, “It’s just a joke-- it doesn’t mean a goddamn thing.”

Jongin’s eyebrow was shot up. “Alright,” he said flatly. “If you say so.”

“I do.” Chanyeol said, before going on to ask Jongin about his original question - that of how long he should wait, realistically, before trying to make his move. 

Sunday. Another Sunday. Chanyeol stood in his Sunday best after the service was over. He stood on the grass, overlooking the road, cigarette between his lips. He stretched and counted the cars idly as they passed by. After the fourth civic spoiled his scenery, he turned around and finally spotted him -- 

Him --

He was crossing the grounds in slow careful steps. He was in all-black - joggers and jumper -- with a mid-sized backpack over his shoulder. When he finally looked up and their eyes met, he froze. Then, he melted, into action, reaction, as the distance between them fell away and Chanyeol was playfully and adoringly bumped into by -

“Hi,” he greeted him. “Thanks for waiting.” 

“Yeah, no problem.” He said coolly, before gesturing towards the road. “You free for pizza?”

Kyungsoo nodded eagerly.

When Chanyeol looked back and saw the familiar group of church boys with their jaws on the lawn, he threw them the middle finger. A finger - that would find itself entwined in Kyungsoo’s grip as he grabbed it out of the air and held it in a gentle embrace with his own set. 

“Will you pay this time?” Kyungsoo asked him jokingly.

“Course.”

“So… it’s a date?” 

“Yes, sir obvious. We’re going on a date.” 

Kyungsoo smiled at Chanyeol before disappearing into the car. 

They drove in that same peace Chanyeol was used to. Eventually, the car smoothly halted at a red light. 

Kyungsoo spoke for the first time in minutes as he pointed at a building they were passing.

“Chanyeol, do you know what that is?” 

Chanyeol looked across and squinted. “Uh, it’s a government building right?” 

The other laughed and shook his head. “No. It’s the Grand National Theatre,” he said, “It’s the best theatre in the country. Maybe in the world.” 

He looked out of the open car window and smiled broadly. Chanyeol looked at him and then shifted the signal of his car to carry them across to the front of the theatre. The building was bigger than Chanyeol thought. He wasn’t that interested but revelled in the excited shift of Kyungsoo’s expression as he looked around for it.

“You want to sing there one day?” he asked him.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo said, looking back at him. “That would be cool, wouldn’t it?” 

“Cooler than church.”

“Definitely.”

“I’ll come watch you there.” Chanyeol said. 

“You better.”

Then, Kyungsoo smiled that smile again.

What smile? Jongin would have said, had Chanyeol been brave enough to bring it up the next time they met up at the court - _what smile, Chanyeol?_

His smile. Kyungsoo’s. The smile of the love of his whole motherfucking life, of course.

_He had known it then -_

And still knew it now. As he stood outside the Grand National Theatre and looked at the huge banner that stretched across the top of the great stone arches advertising their new top-billing musical production.

_DO KYUNGSOO, AS --_

The man in the banner beamed at him and he smiled back.

“Long time no see,” Chanyeol said to himself, barely a whisper, as he walked up the steps and towards the box office.

-


	2. FIRST TOUCH

-

The first three weeks of unofficial dating go by. Gucci-like.

Don't get Chanyeol wrong - it was probably the most sexually frustrating three weeks of his life but he reckoned that this was what dating was supposed to be like. Because in between those horny hours of seeing each other, he couldn't picture anywhere he would rather be than with Kyungsoo - either at church, or eating pizza after church. Either of the two. They hadn't quite opted for very adventurous things yet.

Something he was keen to change. 

Chanyeol made his move on a Sunday, unsurprisingly. They were stood by an off-season gelato truck and Kyungsoo was licking a cone of _Caramel Dreaming_ like he was licking for treasure. He'd bought it for him of course. Cutie bonus and all that.

"I think… it's time we meet up after a different day don't you think?" Chanyeol began. He waited for Kyungsoo to stop licking before going on. "Not just after church. I'm not complaining or nothing. I mean, Sundays are better than _nothing_ but I…. I'd like to see you in between too."

"Um, sure." Kyungsoo took out his phone. He licked his cone as he did so, leaving the taller a nudge scandalised. "Let me check."

Kyungsoo was a busy guy - not only from his senior studies but also his lead role in the school drama. A lot of his time was occupied with rehearsals for that. Chanyeol teased him about it because he always thought that theatre kids were a bunch of weirdos. He certainly never paid them any mind. But he would have, had they looked like Kyungsoo of course.

"I can do… Tuesday?" Kyungsoo smiled up at him. "About 6:00? I have midday class the next day so we can stay out a bit later."

That sounded promising. "Stay out?" Chanyeol asked. 

"Hm. If you're free."

"Hmmm, let me check." Chanyeol feigned thoughtfulness as he looked at his phone.

Fuck yeah he's free and he's going to make sure the house was free too because you never know right?

_Kick sister out of the house._ The reminder was set. He looked up and nodded.

"Looks good. Tuesday it is."

Kyungsoo looked pleased until he spotted the church boys waving him over for their weekly ride home. Chanyeol still wasn't allowed to chauffeur him unfortunately. He was planning to ask about that next week.

"Looks like I have to go. Bye." Kyungsoo kissed the cream off his fingers. "Thanks for the--" he raised the cone.

"No problem." Chanyeol shrugged.

Knowing exactly what he wanted (not that it was that hard to predict), Kyungsoo tilted his head up and kissed him quick. Even with that one peck, Chanyeol couldn’t bear that he tasted so nice. Not just cause of the caramel. He wished he could taste him properly though. Tongue and all. It was during times like these that he wished he could get the full meal. Understand?

He sighed loudly and watched the boy of his dreams disappear down the main road in the ugly Toyota. And then he looked back at the church and apologised for having another unsatisfactory boner in its close presence.

Tuesday came faster than Chanyeol when he thought about taking Kyungsoo swimming in some pool somewhere.

They watched a superhero movie at the local cinema. It was pretty ordinary stuff - except Kyungsoo wasn't so into the making out during the boring parts as he found all the parts interesting. 

So in the end, Chanyeol gave up and actually watched a movie for the first time in his life. It was alright. Dumb superhero. Even dumber villain. Lots of things going ka-boom. Nothing special. He actually enjoyed getting the chance to hold Kyungsoo to his chest real tight in the latter half much more; when the movie got real long and the theatre got real cold. The smaller boy snuggled against him and barely moved for an hour. Shameless, Chanyeol sat there with a dopey grin on his face and possible stomach flutters: either from butterflies or a dodgy apple he had at lunch.

After the movie ended they stood outside whilst Chanyeol smoked a cig. Kyungsoo was on his phone and Chanyeol presumed he was texting for his ride home. This was what he firmly believed until Kyungsoo kissed him - and it wasn't no ordinary church kid kiss. This was a long and close kiss where things were exchanged back and forth and tongues may or may not have touched. 

Oh, what a picture Chanyeol's face must have looked when they finally broke apart and he felt his lips tingle. People who kissed him like that never got away with it. He wouldn't let them. But with Kyungsoo, it was all really different. He wanted to be cool- like mother fucking cool. Even if all he wanted to do was give it right back - and trust me he did - he still held it back like a gent.

"That didn't feel like a goodbye kiss," he observed as Kyungsoo shrugged his shoulders as he swayed on the spot.

"It wasn't meant to be…"

Promising. Curious. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. It took a moment before Kyungsoo finally raised his gaze and told him exactly what he wanted to do.

"I think… you can take me home now."

Ka- _ching._

The house was pristine when they arrived because Chanyeol made sure that it was. He cleaned everything that he could the night before and made sure that nobody intervened in the hours in between. After all the whole point of this evening was to dirty the place right back anyway.

Wall. Floor. Porch. He was all game, baby.

Too bad Kyungsoo came into the house and went straight for his closet to pick out some clean pyjamas, thereby making his intentions for the evening very clear.

"Wha--" Chanyeol looked at him. "Are you--" And then at the bedside drawer where his "supplies" were. Special supplies he had topped up for the occasion. 

_So no head?_

Damn. 

"I'm tired from school." The pyjamas Kyungsoo chose were the oversized Rilakkuma ones. He arched an eyebrow at the colours but didn't say anything as he plodded to the ensuite with them in hand. "Can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure." Chanyeol shrugged, trying not to be disappointed as he willed his anticipation right down.

By the time Kyungsoo came out, Chanyeol was already changed too. He had earphones on listening to the music and trying not to fall asleep whilst lying on his bed. Kyungsoo jumped into his bed easily and stole one, slipping it into his ear.

"Ew, what is this?" He said just a few notes in.

"Ewww?” Chanyeol was _hurt_. He looked at Kyungsoo’s cute face and frowned. “What do you mean? This music is class." 

"You mean, ass?”

“No way!”

Music was a sensitive subject for Chanyeol. He was very protective of his special genre of mumble rap. To him, there was no type of music out there that could put him in the mood for anything. This music has carried him through everything: good times, bad times, sexy times, fight times. Regardless of what people say, it was the best music out there. No question. 

Kyungsoo ignored his whines and changed the song using his phone. He fiddled with it. “Oh, I like this one. This one’s a good one,” he pointed out with a smile.

Chanyeol was just about to agree (and suggest a good song to make out to) when an unwanted message popped up on the screen.

_y u ignorin me suddenly bby?_

Timing much? Kyungsoo’s face changed and he caught it just as his phone was returned to him.

Kyungsoo's voice was noticeably quiet when he spoke. 

“Um, you got a message.” 

“Yeah. It’s my ex.” Chanyeol muttered. He ensured that Kyungsoo could see the screen before swiping the entire message away.

He wasn’t sure what would follow next but Kyungsoo not leaving his bed immediately was probably a good sign. Instead, the smaller boy rolled onto his stomach and looked at him with his warm intense eyes. The room was a little dim because Chanyeol wanted to make sure he didn’t create a safe environment for reading. But even in the dark, Kyungsoo was cute _as_.

“What are your exes like?” Kyungsoo asked suddenly.

“My ex-fuck buddies?” Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he unplugged his earphones. “Annoying. You saw that right?” 

“Ex fuck buddies?” There was an emphasis on the _s_.

It took a moment for Chanyeol to catch that he was painting himself out to be the town bicycle. Not at all accurate even though he was more than happy to be ridden.

“Hey. Don’t get the wrong idea. There haven’t been that many.” He said.

“Okay.” Kyungsoo said. “So, what are they like?” He visibly gulped. “Are they like me?” 

“Like… like _you?_ ”

Chanyeol was sure he had practically yelled out the sentence. It was such a crazy idea that he probably would’ve laughed had Kyungsoo not immediately leapt off the bed - thus sending the signal that the conversation happening in Chanyeol’s head was not quite the same as the one happening in Kyungsoo’s. 

He grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand in a panic.

“Hey, no they aren’t!”

“Let--go!”

“No! Listen!” Kyungsoo turned around in frustration. Chanyeol let his hand drop once he caught the furious look. “Kyungsoo,” he sighed. “Why are you even asking about them?” 

“Cause.” Kyungsoo crossed his arms. “Cause you’re just playing me, aren’t you? It’s what everyone says. And… it’s what you’re saying to me right now.”

“How! How am I saying that exactly?”

“The way you’re saying things! You practically said I wasn’t like anyone you’d ever been with… so why the heck would you be with me unless you were just planning to play me?”

Chanyeol crossed his own arms. _He got me there._ But still, he could definitely make his case because what Kyungsoo was saying was total balls. 

“That… doesn’t make it true. In fact it’s total balls.” Chanyeol took a few tentative scoots on the bed towards Kyungsoo, “Trust me, I’m not playing you. I can swear on my life - my sister's life - and my dog's life if you want! And anyone else who thinks I am… well they can tell it to my face and eat my whole fist.” 

He must have said the right thing. The tension on Kyungsoo’s expression collapsed instantly and he deflated, right into Chanyeol’s waiting arms, onto his lips, on top of the bed, just like he had imagined. Minus the bear pyjamas but he could live with that extra detail.

Between the kisses - an explanation - “I’m not good with talking and stuff,” an apology, “so… I’m sorry--” and a proclamation of true love, “I promise I’m not just playing you and trying to get into your pants or nothing.”

“You better not be,” Kyungsoo murmured, “Otherwise I’d say you were doing a really bad job.”

"Damn, don't say that."

"Do better then."

Was he challenging him? Probably. Chanyeol thought so and just to toy with him, he parted his lips and deepened the kiss. He imagined that Kyungsoo would hold a red signal and put a stop to it. Because he was tired. Because he was wearing bear pyjamas. Just because he always _had_. But instead, by some miracle, Kyungsoo let him get on-- let him kiss him like he meant it, let their bodies slide and grind, let the kiss get sloppy and hot until they were hard as nails and rutting.

Amidst the soft whines and the haggard sound of Kyungsoo’s breathing, it suddenly dawned on Chanyeol that he could shamelessly come from this alone.

Groaning at the thought, Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo's waist. Steadied him. Made sure it hit right. The clean sheets he laid out were getting crumpled. Kyungsoo's weight was on top of him completely. The pyjama fabric needed to disappear. Stat.

His lips latched itself to Kyungsoo's neck and sucked a spot. 

"Can I touch you," he murmured, “Like _touch you._ ” A gulp. “Dick-wise?”

Kyungsoo nodded his head as he placed a kiss on Chanyeol’s lips.

"Yeah, okay."

"You can say no…"

"No no…"

Chanyeol stilled.

" _No_?"

"No. As in yes.” Kyungsoo answered, almost whiney, as he shimmied out of the pyjama bottoms in some horny haze, “Yes, yes _yes_. Chanyeol. Please yes..”

Geeze, if he wasn’t into begging before - then he certainly was now. Chanyeol felt himself throb hard, like an amateur, as he reached down and kicked off his loose pants. 

The kissing resumed, bodies pressed, hands roaming. The air was getting hotter with anticipation and Chanyeol was so hard that his head was genuinely hurting. He was sure that he would finish the _second_ that he puts his hand on Kyungsoo so he refrained for a good thirty seconds. In the meantime, he decided to showcase all that’s good and placed Kyungsoo’s hand on his well-formed abs - 

Only for that small hot hand to turn into a fist that would smack him the instant he caught onto the stalling. 

“Do it already.” 

Ever the poet, Chanyeol responded perfectly. 

“Can’t,” he said in probably the most unattractive voice known to man, “I’ll come... Geez. I just like you so much. Don’t want to go quick.”

Kyungsoo’s breathing sounded laboured as he took Chanyeol’s hand and wrapped it around the both of them. They groaned in unison. It was relief of immeasurable proportion- like an oasis in the desert.

“I like you so much too.”

Chanyeol swore Kyungsoo had said it. But he couldn’t really 100% confirm because by then, he was sure he’d blanked out as a result of his body investing all the joules of his energy into the jacking motion of his right hand.

In the end, it was one final grind from Kyungsoo’s hips that finally executed him.

The sensation of their bodies, lips, and dicks pressing perfectly together - was Park Chanyeol’s eventual cause of death. 

He was sure that he was legally dead for a good minute. He didn’t even notice that Kyungsoo had come too until he felt him grow still in his arms. They just let the moment linger between them before Chanyeol thought of something that he probably would have not said _exactly_ at that moment.

“That wasn’t very Christian of us.”

The fist was back. The hit was a little weaker but targeted at his chest and it snagged a very sensitive nip.

“Shut up.” Kyungsoo paused. “Was that okay?”

There was a hint of insecurity in his voice. Chanyeol wanted to laugh again - because it was _more_ than okay but he guessed that would go down just about as well as him asking whether it was okay that he was getting hard again even though they weren’t necessarily done doing that post-coital chat.

“Yeah. Of course it was.”

“I haven’t really done anything else… so.” Kyungsoo visibly gulped. “Um. That’s about as far as I’ve got with anyone.”

Chanyeol hummed in understanding. 

“That’s cool. We’ll just go with whatever you feel comfortable with. As I said… this is more than just about your pants.”

“Well you’ve been in them now. So it better be.”

Kyungsoo’s face was still close to his. And when he turned to face him, Chanyeol spied those dark eyes in the dark and felt his heart do a tumble. If his hand wasn’t covered in sweat and cum, he’d probably touch his face - and poke it to make sure he hadn’t fever dreamed the entire episode.

Out of nowhere, Chanyeol then found himself freezing as Kyungsoo blessed him with a kiss on the cheek. It was, hand-on-heart, the best kiss of the night. Probably the best kiss in the world. It said so much despite being very subtle and Chanyeol was certain that he felt _all_ of it all at once.   
So really what he said next shouldn't have been all that surprising. 

“Let’s go official.” He suddenly blurted out. "You and me. Let's date."

But truly, it was Kyungsoo who won this round with his remark.

“I’m-going-abroad-for-college!” 

"Wait.. what?"

"Um, yeah. I'm going abroad for college."

"Oh. Shit."

"Yeah."

Talk about a mood-killer.

It felt like a good time to clean up. After rearranging the sheets and handwashing some hands and legs, they picked up the conversation where they left off. By that point, Chanyeol had already purged his sappy offer of being official out of his mind. That wasn’t how the streets raised him. He didn’t do boyfriends. Boyfriends were for prissies.

“College isn’t for another year right?” 

They laid in Chanyeol’s bed side-to-side. Whispering.

“I move out in six months.” 

“Damn.” Chanyeol pursed his lips as he thought it through. He shrugged. “Well that’s six months I can date you.” 

_I'm the prissie. I want a boyfriend. I want to be Kyungsoo's boyfriend. I am the prissie. The prissie is me._

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying… you’re okay with dating me even though I’m going abroad for college?”

“Sure, why not," was Chanyeol's confident answer.

“Well.” The questioning look on Kyungsoo’s face faded - replaced by something a little more bemused. A little softer. “I’m kinda okay with that too.” 

That familiar hammer of excitement began to beat in Chanyeol’s chest as he beamed in the dark.

“Nice. That’s it then. You’re all mine for six months. And then after, you go whooosh!” He imitated a plane with his hand, “And live it out abroad.” 

“All mine.” Kyungsoo echoed, smiling very wide as he nodded his head. 

Chanyeol then touched his cheek with his cum-free hand.

“Just make sure you don’t catch feelings or nothing, alright?” He teased. “As you saw, one little taste of me and people tend to want more.”

“Same to you.” Kyungsoo retorted as he fondly leaned into the touch. “Half-love only.” He laughed a little. “Don’t forget.”

“Half-love only.” Chanyeol vowed, nodding. “Nothing more.”

Kyungsoo smiled _that smile_.

“Nothing less.” He said before kissing him again.

The plan was sound. Chanyeol was sure that one day, he’d probably think that he should’ve thought a little longer about this whole thing but this spontaneity tended to dictate the rhythm of his life and how his choices played out. Never would he think that he should betray his instinct just for a mere _thought_ \- so he wouldn’t have ever said no to six months of Do Kyungsoo. Never. Every single fibre of his instincts told him that he was something special and just like his sexy ass Nike Air Max’s, he wouldn’t give him up no matter the price.

Not for anything.

_Even if you broke my heart, I’ll still remember the good times._

_Even if you broke my heart, I’ll still remember the good times._

_Our memories are an eternal gift._

Chanyeol watched the musical from a stall seat. It was a really long love story and whilst he struggled to pay attention for much of it, he found himself tearing up quite quickly at the music whenever it happened to come. 

He wasn’t an emotional guy by any means but there was something about theatre that always caught him one way or another. But by the middle of it, he seriously considered leaving knowing that it was probably too much. 

But it was Kyungsoo’s opening night and it meant a lot.

Even if he didn’t know he was there. He still wanted to keep the promise that he made. 

Strangely, when it came to Kyungsoo’s first song, Chanyeol found himself completely composed even until the end. And then he applauded and the sight of him on stage, in full costume, lauded by everyone around him in the theatre - it brought him back.

To Do Kyungsoo’s actual grand stage debut.

It was Macbeth at the end of wintertime in his senior year.

( _MONTH ONE of six._ )

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -  
> wahey what a week eh exols how we doin lol; i wrote this fast bc i really wanted something -out here- and i laughed for a lot of it - this fic is just a lot of cutesy mccutie stuff. ignore all the little dribbles of conflict for now, let's look at the 99% of the fic which is just 2 cuties in love
> 
> also the song for this chapter is SUGAR x brockhampton (it's what i thought ksoo changed their song to)


	3. FIRST INTRODUCTIONS

-

Dating when you're a man of the mob meant dating exclusively within the mob-- which was exactly why Chanyeol rejected dating in the first place. The idea that he would get the sloppy seconds of some dickhead he hated in preschool was a definite hell no - so his relationship of preference became primarily about sex. Here, he didn't have to be dragged down by familial ties or expectations. What he did in his bedroom - or car - or broom closet - or park bench - was absolutely his business as far as his family was concerned.

And so, when he came home with a highschooler from central with warm googly eyes and introduced him to his family as a boyfriend - there was definitely a reaction afterward. The most notable of which was his sister raising an eyebrow and asking Kyungsoo directly to blink twice if he was doing this unwillingly.

His friends responded similarly. Chanyeol told them at his weekly basketball game and all they replied with was something wholly inappropriate about Kyungsoo's bedroom skills. Something he wouldn't ever repeat now as he respected his boyfriend too much and even smacked a few heads with a hard hand when they laughed about it.

They just didn't want to believe any of it. Park Chanyeol was a bonafide West Baptist fuck boy - born and bred. Certified all dog, all balls. What the hell would he want with some theatre nerd from ESU? 

"It's good right?"

"So so good."

"Eat more."

"You too."

They were eating pizza at Hoonie's during a bitterly cold evening. Kyungsoo had met Chanyeol there after his weekly Wednesday drama rehearsal. He was in a big black puffy coat with his trusty rucksack and some royal looking prop. They sat together on one side at their favourite booth: with Kyungsoo resting his head against Chanyeol's arm. 

"How was your day?" Kyungsoo asked as he reached for another slice of pizza.

Now Chanyeol had spent the whole day working at his parents' restaurant - cleaning toilets and wiping down an endless number of cigarette ashtrays. So basically he had spent the entire day feeling like absolute shit to the nth degree. But seeing Kyungsoo enjoy the newest slice of Hoonie's experimental cuisine, he instantly felt like the allowance he'd earned was worth it.

"It was alright." Chanyeol shrugged. "Much better now that I've seen you."

Whilst once, he would have merely sent those words in text form in the hopes of getting some ass - now he genuinely meant them. He liked Kyungsoo's reaction to his sweet words so much. That double-take. The sudden pinkness of his ears.

As always, Kyungsoo was too taken aback and responded non-verbally - with a little snug press against his arm and a little brush of his hand.

But he expressed it out loud as well.. 

"I missed you too." 

Because he had probably learned after a short while of dating that Chanyeol liked to give as much as he received. And when he didn't get the sense that Kyungsoo liked him for too long, there rises a strong probability that he would sink into an eternal sulk. So he had to keep dropping hints and sweet words too- which he was only too happy to do.

They sat as one like that for a bit just finishing their pizza and listening to Hoonie's dated music of choice which happened to be lo-fi remixes of 80s classics. It was during _Take On Me_ as Chanyeol's blank eyes were mapping ceiling patterns that Kyungsoo said -

"Nobody believes you're my boyfriend at school."

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes.

"Why not?"

"I dunno." Kyungsoo pulled his arm down so he can envelope his shoulder. 

"Does it matter?"

"Not really."

But it does matter. It must. Chanyeol knew it mattered because he wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. See, he was definitely being attentive to his boy.

Chanyeol placed his lips against Kyungsoo's temple and held him closer. "I can come to your school if you want. Tell them what's what." He mumbled.

"You should. They're all talking behind your back."

The notion of a buncha ESU pretty boys gossiping about him was a funny one. It was a common joke amidst the West Baptist (oi oi) boys that they were the ESU kids' wet dreams in private. Again ! Not to say that this was the explanation for Chanyeol's incredible one-track attraction to Do Kyungsoo. He had met many ESU bots in his time - pretty or otherwise - and none of them had even vaguely turned his head.

Clearly destiny had reserved that spot for this special one.

"I will then. I'll be there tomorrow."

Kyungsoo laughed. "I'm just joking."

"Well I'm not. I'll be there in the courtyard and you better point them out to me." He smirked as he tightened and curved his arm and jokingly caught a laughing Kyungsoo in a headlock. "I'll show them who your boyfriend is."

Kyungsoo was ticklish and started laughing. They laughed and laughed together until someone told them to hush - and Chanyeol told them to eat shit.

Later, in the night as they were walking the blocks to his car, Kyungsoo revealed how the ESU crowd have been telling him about the West Baptist crowd (represent) and particularly the nature of the mob boys within it. They were all party boys, fuck boys, bad boys - they were up to no good and won't say no to a violent scrap. 

All accurate stuff, to be fair. Chanyeol shrugged as he listened to it and didn't really understand where Kyungsoo was going with it until he said,

"I don't really care about what they say, Chanyeol. Don't get me wrong. I really don't. I just wished they knew how different you are when it comes to me. I don't want anyone thinking you're some bad guy when all you ever do is pick me up from church and buy me pizza and…" He shrugged and smiled, just a little shyly, "other things that make me happy."

Chanyeol was caught and surprised.

"I...make you happy?"

Kyungsoo's round face was split with a smile. His eyes twinkled brighter than the street lamp.

"Yeah, you do. Of course!"

They stood there across each other, suspended in that moment, and it was Kyungsoo's smile that reminded Chanyeol that he wasn't dreaming (again) and the growing heat in his chest was an impassioned heart and not heartburn.

"Do I make you happy?" Kyungsoo asked earnestly. "Still?"

"Yeah-" Chanyeol replied quickly. "Course, babe. So happy."

"Then," Kyungsoo reached for his gloved hand with his gloved hand. "As long as we keep making each other happy, we'll be okay. Screw what everyone else thinks, right?”

The taller laughed out loud before he squeezed Kyungsoo's small hand in agreement.

"Screw them." He affirmed.

Kyungsoo nodded his head once as he reached up and kissed him sweetly. It was an absolutely perfectly timed kiss and a moment that Chanyeol was sure he would secretly gush about when his boyfriend wasn't around.

But then Kyungsoo retreated and raised an eyebrow.

"Chanyeol… you called me babe, just now."

Chanyeol blinked. "Oops."

"Um, it's okay… I like it.”

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We can keep it.” 

"Babe it is." In fear that his heart will beat too fast again, Chanyeol thought ahead and wrapped his boyfriend in a pseudo headlock as the other just laughed and laughed about being tickled until they were told by some old hag crossing the street to hush.

So from that day on, Chanyeol's relationship with his first ever official boyfriend in their first ever month stayed as smooth as soft serve.

In fact there grew a postcard, rom-com, warm-cocoa-and-hugs, love song quality about their first month. Chanyeol noted that they met up often and did all sorts of fun things to introduce each other to each other’s lives. For example, Kyungsoo was a keen singer and took a hesitant Chanyeol to karaoke a few times - and Chanyeol, a very enthusiastic gamer, took Kyungsoo to the arcade a healthy number of times to point out all the different records he held on the cool retro machines.

In between all this action - was a lot of _action_. 

Church action. And _action_.

(Wink.)

Ever since that night of mucking about in Chanyeol’s bedroom, he had been pretty satisfied with all the nights that followed. True, that they hadn’t gone anywhere near all the way - and what he was being given wasn’t near as much as he was used to, but he accounted for the fact that Kyungsoo’s energy levels were often depleted by school. 

Also it had to be said that there was a part of Chanyeol that kinda enjoyed _wanting_ it for once. Maybe he had been spoilt before, but there really was something about forbidden - or at least unavailable fruit that got him going and feeling some way. He liked the fact that he was waiting. It made him want it; and want _him_ at such an extreme level that at times it felt absolutely catastrophic to his sanity.

This was what he certainly felt now as Kyungsoo laid on his bed, studying his script, legs exposed as he went without any pj bottoms. He was concentrating so much that he was almost frowning at the document. Chanyeol watched him eagerly, trying to decide exactly when to swoop in for the kiss. As much as he liked watching him study, there was a very slippery slope from that space to just wanting to make out particularly because they were on a comfy big bed. He had never been all that effective at controlling his instincts, evidenced now as his eyes alternated between fawning over Kyungsoo and his nice lips. Face. Lips. Face. Lips. Face -

“I'm done with this.” Kyungsoo sighed, breaking the silence as he then looked at Chanyeol resignedly- “Can we… do some stuff?"

Chanyeol knew that tone to the decibel. He practically jumped out of his spot knowing he was going to get some.

“Yeah, babe. Go for it.” He straightened up and patted his lap suggestively. "Come over here."

There was a touch of wickedness to Kyungsoo's smile when he came over with arms already raised and positioned to wrap around Chanyeol's neck. Their lips touched - and made out, passionately. It was moments like these that showed Chanyeol that kissing someone when you really liked them was different to kissing someone you weren't that bothered about. With Kyungsoo, he was sure that he wouldn't tire of it - the shape of his lips, the little noises he makes, the taste of berry chapstick that lingered long afterward. He could really do this for a full-time job. But before he got cocky he first, as with any job, needed to get the basics right. 

Inhaling deep, Chanyeol broke the kiss and gazed down at Kyungsoo's twinkling eyes. With his bedroom voice, he requested, 

"Lie down for me."

Kyungsoo obliged without question. It was honestly just a selfish request as Chanyeol liked this position a lot. It got them closer and let his mind run through the many things he would do if he could _freak._

Kyungsoo smiled up at him. 

Or make _love_. Whatever.

As with all things sexual, there was a dynamic element needed in every interaction. What Chanyeol meant by this was not all rhythms, motions, touches were the same for every person - or simply put, one size did not fit all (oi oi). In the bedroom moments they've shared, he began to pick up a few things about his boy - the main things being that he was far from a delicate altar boy and two, when he wanted something he was going to say it.

"Are you going to blow me?"

"Why? You want me to?"

Kyungsoo's voice fell deeper. Quieter.

"Yeah." 

This was great for Chanyeol who really hated the idea of mind games when it came to sex because when it came to matters of the dick he was impossibly impatient. But he guessed he could play a little this time as Kyungsoo was particularly fun to play with.

"Say you want me to." He teased between kisses as his warm fingers made playful circles against Kyungsoo's bare thigh.

In response Kyungsoo huffed loudly, his face a rosy red.

"No?" Chanyeol kissed his cheek, earlobe, all sugary, and followed the need down until his lips were on Kyungsoo's neck. He knew exactly where he was sensitive there so he sucked a spot, territorial, all spice, until he felt him jolt. 

"Chanyeol." He whined and the feel of it went straight to Chanyeol's dick. "Stop it now.” And then, “I want you to….” 

Chanyeol smirked as he proudly claimed his victory. He ensured to give Kyungsoo a little lovebite as a trophy before finally getting down to business to defeat the huns.

He moved down the bed, pulled Kyungsoo's boxers down for him and only made one cock-related joke ( _well who do we have here!_ ) before taking Kyungsoo slowly into his mouth. 

The response was instantaneous. Like a cute amateur, Kyungsoo shifted against the bed in an effort to grind against the foreign wetness of Chanyeol's mouth. He muffled his sounds yet it all leaked out anyway in his motions - heating the air of the room. Chanyeol kept still, allowed his love to settle in and plant his flag, before licking and sucking gently - all the while relishing in the quiet strained noises of the boy he was pleasuring.

"Ah…"

“Oh….”

Largely it was all going one-way until Chanyeol felt a hand in his hair. A hand which began to weave through his hair. A hand that _tugged_. 

He stopped. The hand tensed tight and then fell away. Chanyeol looked up at Kyungsoo who was already sat up, blinking dazedly like he had just woken up from a sleep.

"Sorry." Kyungsoo managed. "Sorry-- I didn't mean to--"

Chanyeol's face was expressionless. Then he smiled at him. "Hold it tighter," he said, all cool and sexy - "Don't scalp me but tug a little harder if you wanna."

He returned and so did the hand. One teasing lick later and the hand grasped a handful of his dark hair in response. Strong - yes, but still so motherfucking tender. Content, Chanyeol's eyes closed as he enjoyed the sensations happening around him - that of the heavy cock in his mouth, the sting of the cum on his tongue, and the pull and stroke of Kyungsoo's fingers in his hair. In the distance also came the constant rustle of his bedsheets as Kyungsoo shifted and moaned on the bed. It was a nice little thing they had going and Chanyeol's erection was spiritually loving every second even if he was suffering untouched.

Not for long though. 

Kyungsoo was breathless when he spoke again. "I'm really close." He said. "Really."

Peering upwards, Chanyeol gave him a final teasing lick before he paused the party and removed his own underwear so he could finally join in. When he returned, it was to the absolutely indescribable sight of his Kyungsoo, blissed out and touching himself as he thrusted desperately into the empty air.

No lie, it was a very Good thing he was close too -- a very good fucking thing because there was so much in that one scene that could've made Chanyeol want to play longer. 

But he wasn't going to choose bad poetry over coming all over Kyungsoo on that bed. So he set himself on the bed, motioned Kyungsoo's hand away and took over to get both of them off at the same time. It was insane how good it felt - that wet hot slide - and all it would take was another sweet grind, another sweet low moan before Kyungsoo was finishing all over him. He followed seconds later - sweaty, sexy (no doubt, no doubt) and absolutely loving life.

They cleaned up quick afterwards cause it was gross. But also because the quicker they cleaned up, the faster they can cuddle back on the bed. 

"Relaxed?" 

Chanyeol’s bedroom light was at its dimmest. He couldn’t quite sleep fully in the dark so there was always an inch of light whatever the hour. It was particularly helpful when he had Kyungsoo coming over because it meant he could always see a little bit of him even when he was about to fall asleep. 

Also it meant he didn’t have to accidentally elbow him whenever he was trying to leave the room in the middle of the night for a midnight shit.

“So relaxed.” Kyungsoo mumbled as he embraced him. "I feel like I can sleep for a whole week."

"Nah." Chanyeol whispered. "You'll only be like that after I fuck you." Then he paused. "Whenever that may be. No rush babe."

Kyungsoo was too sleepy for his jokes. He just nodded his head and said nothing else. It was a little while later before Chanyeol fell asleep. For an hour or so he just allowed himself to breathe through the moment - to reflect on the night - to enjoy the fact that he had someone in his life like Kyungsoo. He thought of how many frogs he’d had to freak before he found his prince. 

And sure, it wasn’t going to be forever - but they were making the most of it and wasn’t that all life is?

It was a beautiful sunny morning that woke him up. 

“Chanyeol it’s 11am.”

“Yeah?”

“I have an 8:30 class.” 

“Woah, shit. Haha.”

Chanyeol drove Kyungsoo to school at lunchtime. Although Kyungsoo had wanted to go earlier, he got a little bit stuck after Chanyeol’s mom insisted on feeding them before they left the house. He just lied and said that he had afternoon class - as to save them the explanation as to what late-night activities they’d been up to that had meant he managed to sleep through eight of his morning alarms. 

When they got there, it almost seemed like 90% of the student body was on the grounds and parking lot, revelling in the rare beam of sunshine.

Several offbeat jokes about running over strangers later, Chanyeol parked his car in front of the main campus building. Even then there were already several eyes on them - he thought that it was because of his car’s new paint but it soon became clear that the people staring were known to Kyungsoo who was smiling at them from inside.

“Your friends?” Chanyeol asked, as he slid a cigarette between his mouth and watched their poreless perfect ESU faces with a raised eyebrow.

“Hmmm.” Kyungsoo said, “I’ll introduce you if you like.” 

He didn’t necessarily like but he thought that saying yes was probably the right answer. Why the hell not. Chanyeol stepped out of the car - felt the godly pressure of that huge crucifix that hung over the ESU main building - and walked towards the group of seniors behind Kyungsoo.

“Hey. This is Chanyeol.” He heard it - that excitement in Kyungsoo’s voice as his friends’ stern gazes looked his way. “Chanyeol, this is Junmyeon - Jinyoung - Jihoon -”

“Lots of J’s in this school huh,” Chanyeol retorted, letting the unlit cigarette rest between his fingers as he passed them a nod. “Nice to meet you.”

There were others but by then Chanyeol had lost interest. There really was no love lost between him and ESU. It didn’t help that as he stood - a stream of strangers passed by with tense looks and unfriendly smiles. No surprise since this image was what ESU was known for. A bunch of judgmental dicks in nice uniforms.

“You okay?”

But not this one. Never this one.

“Yeah, yeah.” Chanyeol looked down on the floor. When he looked up, the seniors were going away. “You going now?”

“Got to. I’m late again.” 

Kyungsoo then reached for Chanyeol’s hand, stole the cigarette, and then placed it between his lips. He watched him a tad dumbfounded as Kyungsoo laughed and stepped closer.

“Screw them.” He whispered as he beamed at him before - “ _Oh._ ”

The cigarette was taken out and replaced with a quick goodbye kiss. When he went away, Chanyeol thought that he could really quit smoking. He really could do it this time because maybe his addictive instincts could best be directed somewhere else - to kisses. To this. Whatever this was supposed to be, he wanted all of it and all of the time.

“See ya later then.” Chanyeol shrugged as he added, “...miss you already and all that.” 

The familiar pink appeared on Kyungsoo’s cheeks.

Chanyeol was _sure_ that he would’ve got another kiss - and then maybe another - had a hard-ass teacher not suddenly appeared out of nowhere and signalled to the cigarette he’d had hanging out of his mouth.

So they said a quick goodbye - with one final quick kiss - as Kyungsoo ran quickly to class and Chanyeol quickly drove away.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've decided to split their 1st month bc i love them and i'm also procrastinating HARD. i will slow down on the updates now bc this is a bit crazy haha but thank you for all the really nice comments guys :) all i'll say is that this story is going to be as gross and nice as it has been. no plans for anything horrible haha so if you like it! then great! me too :) 
> 
> two, the song of the chapter is racecar x gabe bondoc. 3, have a good week okays lovely people !


	4. FIRST FIGHT

*

"So trouble in paradise?"

"What? Nah man. Kyungsoo and I are good."

"So why you got that face then?"

"What face?"

They were sat on top of Jongin's roof at twilight drinking beers. There was a speaker alternating between hard EDM and soft rap between them. Other than that, there was little else to note: the approaching sunset maybe and the subtle fall wind as a witness.

"That face." Jongin smirked as he pointed. "Your loser face."

Chanyeol and Jongin had been best friends since they were babies. If there was ever someone he would confide in about his "Hyunsik" problem then it would be him. So he split like a grass, with his alleged loser face hardening as a consequence.

"It's this guy-- this fucking square at ESU," Chanyeol muttered. "I think he's trying to make a move on Kyungsoo and it bugs the shit outta me."

"Ah." Jongin took a gulp of beer as he nodded. "Alright then, tell me the story bro. What's up?"

It all started on a Friday. Fridays were date days and the whole plan was Chanyeol would pick Kyungsoo up from the front of his school and they'd go and eat street foods or something. He had been excited about it after another day of slaving away at his parents' restaurant but in a complete 360 to his character, Kyungsoo wasn't there at all. 

Still, Chanyeol's excitement to see his cutie boyfriend wasn't going to waver just because of a little lack of punctuality. He figured that rehearsals were probably overrunning again. Stupid high school.

So instead of sulking he chose to surprise him. He parked his car and started his own little adventure around ESU. The school was largely deserted because it was after hours and even if a teacher did see him nosing around a chemistry lab, he still looked young enough to pass as a senior.

Eventually he located the drama theatre and he spotted Kyungsoo immediately. His dark-haired darling with the nice thighs and perfect smile. Yet as he came into view, someone else came into view too-- another boy. Now, Chanyeol wasn't that kinda guy by any means - you know, the guy that you're thinking about. The kinda guy who flips out when he sees his babe talking to some other guy.

But you see, Chanyeol would argue that he wasn't that guy - but he felt like he had to be that guy around Hyunsik.

Hyunsik who, when he approached, gave him the most irritable look ever until Kyungsoo clarified with his joy that Chanyeol was his boyfriend and someone he was very happy to see. 

The actual conversation that took place next was a bit of a blur. Chanyeol caught his name when Kyungsoo introduced him and nothing else. Maybe it was animalistic but something definitely washed over Chanyeol there and then and forced him to take his own observations - the suspiciously cheery laugh he expressed whenever Kyungsoo spoke, the closeness of his form, and finally his obvious bulkier body when compared to Chanyeol. All of that combined equalled to a total unrepentant dislike for Hyunsik forever and ever.

And since then, as if to annoy him, life decided that he would see Hyunsik everywhere and all around Kyungsoo - from church to school. To Chanyeol this guy was like an ugly ornament displayed on the perfect mantel of his relationship. One he feverishly wanted to throw in the trash - but couldn't because Kyungsoo liked it and wanted it there.

So the torment persisted.

He actually thought he was being pretty subtle about the whole thing until he was at church one Sunday and saw Hyunsik at the service. Kyungsoo had told him that they couldn't hang out because he had to do weekend rehearsals. After it became clear that he would be going with Hyunsik to said rehearsal, it was fair to say that he lost his cool.

"What?" Kyungsoo demanded. "What''s your problem?"

They were having this tiff right out on the open grass where they first got together. The irony of it all.

Chanyeol was visibly ticked off. He was practically strangling his cigarette.

"Why are you always hanging out with him?" He scowled. "Don't you have other friends?"

"What does that mean?" Kyungsoo frowned. "What's wrong with Hyunsik?"

Everything. Why can't he see it? Chanyeol lost all interest in explaining it to him. He didn't want to think about that guy any more than he already had - which was a lot.

"Nothing. Do whatever you want." 

Chanyeol stomped on his cig before walking away. Only later did he remember to feel bad about littering again. 

"Chanyeol- come back!"

"Nah man. You're late." He called back, eyes barely looking at him, "Just go. I've got somewhere to be."

This was how he ended up drinking beers with Jongin on a Sunday. There was nothing wrong with that - only that he had grown very used to Sundays not only being God's day but also his day with Kyungsoo. But whatever. things didn't always turn out the way you want.

After listening to the story, it was clear that Jongin only got one thing from it - and that was a renewed belief that ESU was a school of untrustworthy suckers.

"Nah, bro." Jongin waved his hand. "You can't trust those dicks from ESU. They're a bunch of snobs.."

Chanyeol shook his head defiantly. "Not Kyungsoo."

"I dunno, man. He hangs out with them all day right?"

"Nah, leave Kyungsoo out of it. But that guy? If you saw the way he looked at Kyungsoo." Chanyeol was close to spitting out onto the street. Instead he balled his fists and huffed loudly - "If he tries it on one time, I fucking swear…. I. Fucking. Swear."

He shook his head. Jongin grew quiet. They listened to the wind for a little while - it was singing a noisy tune. Sometimes listening to the wind cools Chanyeol's head but he's a little sceptical this time. When it comes to passions of the heart, he had the tendency of holding onto things longer than most.

Eventually, the silence disappeared at Jongin's call.

"Damn Yeol. You can't be like this. It's almost your birthday. You know your party's going to be _it_."

Maybe that worked a little. Chanyeol softened at the thought of his upcoming party. Yes, that was a fair point.

Whilst generally birthdays were poorly celebrated in his family and he rarely attended them - when it came to his own? There was no comparison. From the turn-out, the theming, the soundtracks and the mother fucking cuisine - it was an annual event that everybody talked about before, during and after.

This year however, because was officially turning nineteen, he has chosen to shift away from the boozy booty all boys hazard trips of the past - last year being an absolute monster of a weekend in Thailand - and selected a much more lowkey house party as his theme. He was showing maturity - in that he had broadened his invite list, decided to leave a lot of the organising to Jongin - and also promised that he wouldn't specify what level of clothing certain people should turn up in. 

Chanyeol was really proud of himself and in all fairness, he was actually excited. It was something he would've liked to talk about more if his gaze didn't land on a strange figure on Jongin's lawn. It was a faceless body for a second or two until he really peered and the singular haze split into two shapes - a body and a body on all fours.

It was Kyungsoo who was stood there with his dog, Mochi - his beloved baby toy poodle but also a total menace of a dog. Looking at them together his babe and baby got him feeling some way until he remembered what had happened earlier. And then his face fell and after excusing himself from Jongin, he maneuvered down the ladder they had hastily used to get up there and landed by the pair who had approached to meet him.

"I went to your house," began Kyungsoo immediately. "It was empty but Mochi wanted a walk so I thought I would walk him and try Jongin's house…"

Mochi was already trying to claw at his leg. The little devil dog.

"Hi baby!" he greeted his puppy lovingly before looking at Kyungsoo and clearing all that yuck off his face - "I can take him off your hands. No big." He said, voice deep. "Gimme."

The leash was given to him. He turned and passed Jongin a wave. Kyungsoo copied him. They started to walk down the street together with Mochi excitedly scuttling up and down in a weird pace and making the silence between them that much more awkward. It dawned on him then that they’d probably had their first proper fight. It wasn’t nice. He wished they’d just had a normal Sunday instead. But of course he wasn’t going to pussy out and say that.

"That wasn't cool of you. What you did earlier." Kyungsoo said which only prompted Chanyeol to frown again.

"Yeah well. What do you want me to say?"

Chanyeol shrugged. "You upset me." He continued. "So I said what I said."

Kyungsoo frowned too. "Because I'm hanging out with my friend? You really want to be that guy?" 

"I'm not that guy."

"You're acting like you are."

"Well, I'm saying that I'm not."

"It doesn't just work one way like that."

"Whatever."

Someone - Chanyeol wasn't even sure who it was - sighed loudly heralding the next silence. It introduced a familiar smoothness to the weird air between them. A second to breathe maybe.

"I am going to keep hanging out with him." Kyungsoo said after the pause. His voice was tentative as Chanyeol felt his gaze on him. "You're my boyfriend but I'm going to keep seeing my friend.”

It was that word. _Boyfriend_. It was like a nice sweet candy to cheer Chanyeol up and he was totally willing to take it and swallow it up like some disgusting softie because he was reminded that he wasn't _that_ guy - but he was Kyungsoo's boyfriend. He was definitely that guy and he wanted to stay being that guy for the foreseeable future.

The vice grip on his heart eased a little. The wind’s touch, a little softer too. 

"Then I'll just stay pissed." Chanyeol resolved, before finally looking down at Kyungsoo and noting how he looked in sunset colours. "But not at you. I'm… sorry if that's how it came across… You're obviously okay to see him but I'm allowed to not like him. That's fair right?"

It probably wouldn't feel very satisfactory next time they encounter a problem. But in the moment it felt like an acceptable bargain: a resignation for a resignation. Plus, neither of them really wanted to fight each other any more.

Predictably it was Chanyeol who reached out and grasped Kyungsoo's hand tight as they waited at a crossing. When he looked down at his expression and saw him smiling, he knew that they would be perfectly alright.

The wind changed and the sun sunk a little more. The day was ending. But it was ending with him, so Chanyeol figured it hadn’t been all that bad of a day.

"You sang really well at mass," Chanyeol told him, feeling like a change of subject as the light went green.

Kyungsoo beamed. "You thought so?"

"Yeah, babe. I think I saw an old lady cry during the communion hymn."

Chanyeol laughed loudly as Kyungsoo shoved into him playfully. 

"It's my birthday soon." He also said, echoing the conversation that just took place.

"Yeah, I know." Kyungsoo replied. "I mean, we've talked about it."

"Have you got me something?" Chanyeol teased.

"You're my boyfriend. Of course I have."

Chanyeol beamed at the thought - before it relaxed into something more playful.

"Your face is so goofy, babe."

"Huh?"

"When you said that. Your face."

Kyungsoo's hand reached for his cheeks. "What about it."

The sight, man. Maybe melting someone's heart was a real thing.

"Nothing. You're all good." Chanyeol grinned. “I was just playing.”

The pair stopped at another crossing and it was there that Chanyeol gave Kyungsoo's nose a sweet little kiss - a moment of pure undisturbed affection. A glimpse of magic -- seconds before Mochi gave a little bark and pooped a wet one on the sidewalk.

26th November. 7pm.

Sweaty. Teen parties were always so sweaty. It was an hour into his birthday party and already Chanyeol was feeling a layer of sweat form under his thin tee. 

He spent that first hour lounging on his couch getting roasted by the boys. To get his Mom to lend him the house free for the weekend, a set of rules were drawn up: 1. No guns. 2. No drugs. 3. Chanyeol was banned from getting _shmuckered_ ergo; he was allowed to drink but not anymore than the tipple of wine he sipped at church. The first two things he got easy. But the last was a true test of will. 

His friends found it hilarious of course and did everything to make his life of sobriety a living torture. They made up fizzy cocktails in front of him. Commented on how nice the beer was. We bought expensive shit, Yeol. Shame you can't have any of this good stuff! 

One more, Chanyeol swore -- one more jab-- and someone was going to lose a few fucking teeth. 

But then, just when he was sure he had finally maxed out and meant it, the doorbell rang and he heard it and felt it. By that he meant, he knew where it was before being told. The connection was really like _that_.

Jongin was by the door when he said,

"Hey loverboy. Your present is here." 

About time.

Kyungsoo had been busy at an all-day rehearsal and he was finally here. Thank the heavens. Seeing him walk through the door was a whole new experience from seeing anyone else walk through. All day, the losers he knew had been teasing him endlessly about where his beloved boyfriend was and now here he was - cute as shit. 

Chanyeol had met him at the door, excited, resembling his demon of a puppy.

"Happy birthday." Kyungsoo said as he hugged him.

"Finally.” Chanyeol said, beaming from ear-to-ear. “Almost died from waiting, babe."

He greeted him with a kiss on the lips like it was nothing.

Didn't even notice that Jongin was standing close enough to see their tongues touch.

"Are you guys fucking seeing this?" He heard Jongin say before making a series of choking noises, "Boooooblahh."

Chanyeol shoved his saddo best friend to the side and introduced his boyfriend to his better friends next. At least those in the upper circle. There were a lot of people there already and he didn't really want Kyungsoo to waste his energy on people who won't matter.

The people who did matter were few and far between which was all the better. Chanyeol wasn’t one for wasting his own energies on people who didn’t matter

“Guys,” he introduced him first, of course. “This is Kyungsoo.” 

And then the rest. “So,” he gestured towards the sexiest girl in the group -- all legs and dark eye shadow -- who immediately waved at Kyungsoo before flashing Chanyeol the finger. “This is Jennie. Jongin’s classy girl. In fact, if you check her pockets bet you'll find Jongin's dick and balls - “ _Hey!_ \- “That’s Sehun. Baekhyun.” The two were busy playing on their mobiles to greet Kyungsoo properly so Chanyeol gave their feet a quick kick. The two jumped up immediately, respectfully, to give Kyungsoo the welcome he deserved.

“Hey Kyungsoo.”

“Nice to meet ya.” 

Chanyeol smirked before vaguely gesturing to the other two people in the couch. Their names didn’t matter much. Baekhyun and Sehun tended to switch their hook-ups pretty quick. Tomorrow, their faces would change so he’d got into the habit of not getting too attached to the temporary.

Jongin returned to the group and flopped down onto the couch.

“Come sit, Kyungsoo.” He said. “Don’t be shy.” 

“Uh, sure.” Kyungsoo looked up at him, timid. “You coming?”

There were people outside of the couch and out of Chanyeol’s close circle who were looking their way - particularly at Kyungsoo who didn’t seem that keen to leave his side. Good; because he wasn’t planning on letting him out of his sight. Not when the next generation of West-Side mobsters were all in one place. He didn’t like half the people at this party and he wasn’t going to let any trouble anywhere near his one and only.

So, instead of lounging as he’d planned, Chanyeol found himself slipping an arm around Kyungsoo’s waist and gesturing at the group - 

“Let’s go basement,” he instructed. “It’s quieter down there.”

It was better too. Chanyeol’s basement was practically a man-cave on drugs. His parents had it decked out with a bar top, pool, a television, board games, video games and a brand new refrigerator with the ice machine.

As a group, they played some video games and had a laugh together. But what really got Chanyeol was teaching Kyungsoo how to play pool. Though he solely used it as a way to get up close and personal to Kyungsoo's ass, he found that his boyfriend was pretty easy to teach. Not only that - he was competitive! Before he’d known it, they were _competing_ and Chanyeol was thinking less about ass and more about winning. 

And in between their sets of play, his friends still found a way to be little shits. They made jokes. Showed Kyungsoo baby pics. Told him how fun it was seeing their Chanyeol more _whipped_ than cream. They really couldn’t believe the sight in front of them. All of Chanyeol’s stories were all true after all. There really was the boy of his dreams, they really were dating and he really was one thousand times better than any of the back-alley bums they played tonsil tag with on a night out.

“Better luck next time.” Chanyeol said as the game ended with him potting all his balls (oi oi). 

Kyungsoo’s brow was furrowed in concentration. “I think I got where I went wrong.” Then his face softened, “Again?”

As if Chanyeol could ever say _no_. He was just readying to clear the table when he heard footsteps descend down to the basement and an adjoining call,

“Chanyeol,” a voice said, “Cousin Leeyoung is here. He wants to see you.”

Leeyoung? A nerd from out of town. But Chanyeol figured that he could probably get a good present out of him because he was pretty minted.

“Sure.” He looked at Kyungsoo. “Sorry babe, I’ll have to skip this one.” 

Chanyeol then pressed a kiss to Kyungsoo's forehead and wrapped an arm around his middle before looking at his small group of friends and throwing them a hard look.

"I'll be back. Behave. Don’t give Kyungsoo any trouble.”

Jongin bowed jokingly - thereby indirectly taking full responsibility. 

The trip to see Leeyoung turned out not to be a total waste of time after all. Leeyoung, the new legend that he was, brought him a gift on behalf of their side of the family. A shit ton of cash - made to look like petty cash rolled up in elastics. Nineteen to be exact. Cause he was a big boy now. And big boys needed to live like one. It was really way beyond awesome. Having cash meant 1.) no shitty shifts at the restaurant 2) more dates 3) he could officially joke that Kyungsoo was his sugar baby and he’d have the dosh to prove it.

Chanyeol’s mood about the whole thing improved a lot after that. He did a lot more dancing, a lot more swimming through the crowds and saying hello - even to all the motherfuckers he wouldn’t look at in the daytime and kept grudges against. The party began to heave with people as the dark outside grew deeper - penetrated only by the sound of loud booming music and the hollers of remote voices saying this, that and the other.

He became pretty busy with all of that. And Kyungsoo, ever his beloved, allowed him to be. He kept to himself with Jongin and the rest of his close friends, alternating between the basement and the snack table, reassuring Chanyeol that everything was good and they would get the time to be with each other eventually.

“It’s your night,” Kyungsoo told him in between kisses as Chanyeol squeezed his adorable face and apologised for continuing to get pulled away by randoms - “Enjoy yourself.”

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t be leaving you so much.”

“Why?”

“Well, you don’t know these people.”

“I doubt they’ll try to pull anything whilst you’re here.”

“They better not.” Oh, and they were kissing again. Much to Jongin’s delight because he always happened to be stood mere centimetres away from the couple.

In all matters of seriousness though, Chanyeol really was enjoying it so much. And knowing that his boyfriend was always there, beyond the faceless of crowd, became a huge part of his enjoyment. Everyone could see it too - and for the real ones, the true friends, they celebrated it. They were much nicer about it. They liked the fact that he was happy and not perpetually pissed like he normally was.

“You’re so into him bro,” Baekhyun had laughed in his face as they ate snacks at the table. They could see where Kyungsoo was sat with Jongin playing a dice game with a bunch of people. 

“Yeah, I am.” Chanyeol spoke with some pride as he gestured towards his boyfriend, “You see him? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Baekhyun nodded his head in agreement before laughing again.

“Bro, you aren’t going to do the slip already are you?” He mimicked a ring slipping onto his finger with a smirk, “You’ve only just turned nineteen! Your Mom’s going to kill you!”

Chanyeol snorted.

But he didn’t say no, you know, just for the mystery.

But as with all things good and dandy, something ugly would come and take over eventually.

Chanyeol didn’t understand - couldn’t understand - how what happened could have happened. This was his house; on his turf; with his people - and yet Jinyoo, that Upper East cumdump still found a way to show his face. If it wasn’t yet clear, Jinyoo was that hook-up of nightmares that Chanyeol always referred to. The one that got him grounded amongst other things. The complete antithesis to the blessing that he had now. 

He found him out after hearing the whispers from around him. And when he saw him, sat in that couch, talking to Kyungsoo - well it happened again. That thing. When Chanyeol loses his cool and he does and says things before he's properly thought about it -

Before he had even really realised what he was doing, Jongin and Sehun were holding him by the collar as he threatened Jinyoo for daring to show his face. There was shouting. There was a crowd. It was louder than the music. Jinyoo had his own friends amongst the crowd. And a part of Chanyeol swore that he would get each and every one of them.

“You have some fucking nerve showing your face here!”

“Nerve? I’d think you’d at least invite me after what you did to my friends.”

There was a lot of that. A lot of it was a blur now because Chanyeol’s brain had short circuited from the burn of the anger at just seeing him. It was unbelievable how furious he had felt. To the point where he thought, for a second, he’d forgotten how to breathe.

"Fuck! Yeol calm down!" Jongin scowled and gave him a shove that landed him right on the couch.

Like a deadly tornado, Jinyoo was gone just like that, leaving all the damage behind him. He was taken rightly away by the snakes in the crowd. And the music overcame and regained control like nothing had happened.

"Calm? You see that crazy fucker?” Chanyeol’s heart was beating. God, he wanted to hit something. “He came knowing that he was going to stir the pot-- fuck sake-- did he do anything to Kyungsoo?"

"Kyungsoo?" Jongin asked, “Uh, I don’t think so?”

They both looked around for the other boy. The party had returned to their respective little groups, all that drama now forgotten as video clips on their phones to look over later.

“Where’s Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol asked, his heart racing but now from a different cause. “Kyungsoo!”

But after some minutes of intense searching he was not in the room and not in the house. Chanyeol was so beyond pissed at that point that he was inches away from just shutting down the party entirely - but his friends managed to talk him out of it. Just go find Kyungsoo. I bet it’s all good! You don’t want him to think that you stopped it just for him, do you?

Determined to find him and make it right, Chanyeol hopped into his car, ready to Tokyo drift right down to central, until he spotted a small blob in black walking out of the convenience store not far from his house with a bag of food. He knew that blob from anywhere. He missed that blob. He was going to take that blob home where he belonged.

“KYUNGSOO!” he called out, cruising, with his window down, “IS THAT YOU BABE!”

The blob stopped walking.

"CHANYEOL?"

"BABE!"

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :((((((((((((
> 
> ( ;))))) ) 
> 
> sorry for the late update guys. i'm busy prepping for a vacay ^_^ but i'll try and sneak part 2 of this in before my flight. thank you for all the love guys ~~ i really appreciate it, so so so so much :D let's keep our spirits up together.
> 
> song 4 this chapter is; a boy is a gun - tyler the creator


	5. FIRST BIRTHDAY

*

They continued the conversation after Chanyeol sloppily parked his car in a convenience store parking space. It was barely _in_ and no doubt some fucker was going to yell at him for it.

Good thing he was in a mood for a scrap.

Kyungsoo was stood in front of him, huddled in his oversized coat, holding a bag of groceries. His voice was heavy when he spoke. Like his throat was dry.

"I bought some more snacks. You were running out." He said, “Sorry if I made you worry.”

The dark was too thick for Chanyeol to see exactly what his love’s face was saying. Was he upset? Sad? Horny? All three? Maybe only the first two? He couldn’t be sure and part of why he lit a cigarette two seconds later was to lessen his anxiousness about the answer to that set of questions. 

"Can we talk first?" He requested after taking a generous draw.

They moved towards the long bench by the store. It was where the smokers tended to sit hence why it reeked of cigarettes, bad weed and homelessness. Chanyeol felt right at home but he noted how Kyungsoo didn’t place himself right next to him like he usually did. It was a worrying observation. He wished he could smoke two cigs - one in each hand - because he was getting real wired about this whole thing now.

"So what did he tell you?" Chanyeol asked. He asked it quick like he was pulling off a plaster.

"Not much.” Kyungsoo placed the shopping on his lap. He was tapping his feet against the hard concrete. “He just… told me to be careful. He said you weren't any good. Then he showed me those pictures. His friends. Him. The way you and your friends beat them up. Um. He talked about how much trouble it got him. How much trouble I might be in…”

“Wait, did he threaten you?” Chanyeol interrupted.

“No, not like that.” Kyungsoo sighed. “He meant that you were… that you were… ” There was a gulp. “He said that _you_ were the troubled one.”

Wow. Chanyeol made out that word with his lips. _Wow_.

All his life, he had heard those exact words - in many different guises, but still the same words had never affected him like this. Hearing Kyungsoo say them gave it the impact of a sucker punch to the throat - and maybe a karate kick to the ballsack. 

It _hurt_ him. And that sucked really bad.

Chanyeol’s heart began to hammer again as Kyungsoo asked,

“What’s your side of the story?” 

Everything was hurting. The cigarette wasn’t helping so he stubbed it out. Lit another. A car zoomed past. God, his chest was hurting a lot. Was he having a heart attack? Or was his heart breaking?

"We were fucking on the reg.” Chanyeol began as he lit the new cig between his lips, “We weren’t allowed to. Different clans and all that. So we did it in secret.” 

He’d met Jinyoo at a party. Hooked up with him the same night. Before he became batshit, Jinyoo hadn’t been all that bad actually. He was good in bed and he liked telling stories. Chanyeol didn’t care much for him really but he liked his company and there was something about the secret they shared that bonded them. Also, he was really into hate sex which Chanyeol was all for. They had a lot of it too - because they really, on every level discernible, hated each other’s guts.

“But he started using it as a way to get stuff out of me so I called it quits.”

But then he became batshit. Maybe, it was Chanyeol’s fuckboy attitude that did it - or maybe Jinyoo caught feelings that he couldn’t handle healthily. But at some point, something twisted between them and the secret they shared became a dagger they stabbed each other with. Jinyoo wanted to out the two of them - knowing it was going to cause a motherfucking tidal wave. Chanyeol wouldn’t hear of it. He told him to fuck off and stop bootycalling him. Then Jinyoo went batshit. That was all he could say. 

“It became bad. Real… shitty. Then one time, on a night out, he tried to beat me up for real so next week I beat them all up. I got grounded. Moved churches. Met you. You know the rest.”

Reliving that stuff wasn’t fun. The ache Chanyeol had felt was now pulsing through his head. He rubbed a spot there as he smoked tensely, barely noting how Kyungsoo had stilled beside him. 

“One guy had to get tooth implants, Chanyeol.”

“Yeah, well welcome to my world Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol muttered. “This is why we get premium dental around here.”

The joke fell flat. It was really no laughing matter. Chanyeol knew that Kyungsoo was upset and whilst he didn’t know how much or at exactly what - he began to get a feeling of where exactly this conversation was going to end up. Why? Because his friends had been saying it countlessly for a month now. 

No boy from Central is going to date you. You’re a mobster through and through and you’re going to end up with a mobster. The moment that your church boy sees blood; he’s going to run and he’s going to run far. So just fuck him and go.

_Fuck him and go._

Another car drove past. Chanyeol remembered the first time he’d driven Kyungsoo to Hoonie’s and how happy he’d been. 

_Fuck him and go._

_Fuck him and go._

_Why don’t you all fuck off and go? And leave me and him in peace._

For Chanyeol, this relationship was always going to be different for him - even if at the end, it would’ve ended the same. His friends may have mapped it right to the dot but he would’ve denied it all the way to the finish line. But still, he wasn’t going to say no to the band-aid method if it was where it was going to go. If that was where Kyungsoo wanted to take it.

"If I'm not what you want, just break up with me if you wanna." Chanyeol told Kyungsoo, looking at him for the first time in many minutes, “I wouldn’t blame you. No hard feelings and all that. Just say the word and we’re done.”

The words stayed there with the stability of a car tip-toeing off a cliff edge. Chanyeol’s resolve managed to last a good ten seconds before he began to _cry_.

That’s right. He said that line and he cried with the impact of a water balloon popping. Splatters everywhere.

He didn’t know how but the cig slipped from his hands as he used them to conceal his shame from the world. Beneath, a shameless wave of tears and snot poured out as the hurt finally took over and sought release. 

Chanyeol was still shaking when he felt Kyungsoo nuzzling against his shoulder, a hand covering his.

“Chanyeol,” he was humming, “It's okay…."

“I’m okay-- _okay!_!” he cried, _cried_ , “God-- gimme a minute...”

A minute turned to five long ones. Kyungsoo gave him a sip of the 1ltr orange soda to get some fluids back. They also opened a bag of salty chips. By then, Chanyeol’s vision cleared and he was able to see Kyungsoo’s face perfectly again - saw the concern in his eyes when he fed him the chips and thought boy-oh-boy, I’m gonna miss him. I’m gonna miss him so much after tonight when he quits being my boyfriend five-months-in-advance.

…. Chanyeol raised his whole arm to his eyes as he began to cry again.

In the distance, a soft little wail joined him-

"Chanyeol!" And then a sniff. 

So that was where this conversation ended up. Two heartbroken boys crying outside the convenience store door.

Eventually, the crying actually stopped. They ate the salty chips together and for a while that was all they heard - the rustle and crunching of their actions. Any taste for change only really came when they reached for the bag at the same time and their fingers touched.

"You have it." Chanyeol muttered as he pushed the bag at him.

Kyungsoo shook his head so Chanyeol kept on eating even when he didn't have to. He looked down and saw that he was being watched.

"You ever cried over a boy like that before?" Kyungsoo asked.

Chanyeol pondered the question truthfully. He may have shed the occasional tear during sports - or Leo DiCaprio movies - but this was a whole new deal. As he’d said before, everything with Kyungsoo was new. Crying included.

"What do you think?" he answered. 

Then he scratched his head and sighed. 

"Nobody thinks this could really work out," he admitted, looking over at him, "A boy like you dating someone like me. I guess… I got miffed because I _really_ didn't want them to be right." 

All those voices. Sometimes they could be so loud. But he’d always had Kyungsoo around him to hush them down. 

"They're not." 

And just like that, Kyungsoo's smooth voice cut through his thoughts like butter.

"I still want to date you."

Ding ding winner winner. Chicken dinner. Relief flooded Chanyeol's chest as (redacted) filled his eyes. Fortunately he managed to will it down even when the emotion returned to him like a hard smack to the face. "Yeah? Cool." He was spluttering a little when he reached across and joyfully placed a kiss on Kyungsoo's forehead. "Let's leave it there then."

Kyungsoo laughed.

"No, wait." 

Chanyeol shook his head in disagreement. "Babe, I am _this_ close to the waterworks again. Anything but making out will get me there."

Kyungsoo laughed again. Then, he placed a hand on Chanyeol's thigh (oi oi) to steady him before looking up and right into his eyes.

The jitters of the moment appeared to steady at his touch. It was a little magical. The calm that came with that action.

"I want you to understand why I want to date you." Kyungsoo explained, voice soft as he pointed a finger at Chanyeol's face. "That's why."

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm hot as-?"

"Yeah and-- _that_. The way you look at me. Nobody in the world looks at me like you do. And the way you look at me lets me know exactly what you feel about me. That you're trying. That I can trust you. That there’s more to you than what everyone else things.”

It might seem pretty abstract but Chanyeol got it. Maybe that was the thing that had always been really hard to pin down about their connection. It wasn't something explorable through words; the closest, maybe, was a look. But did that explain the spins that his heart made every time he thought about Kyungsoo?

It didn’t even really cover half of it and Chanyeol was beginning to think that what his feeling couldn’t ever be explained by anything in the world. 

"And for the sake of comparison,” Kyungsoo continued, "I don't look at anyone else in the same way either. Not anyone. Not _Hyunsik._ -”

Chanyeol imitated spitting on the floor - only to get hit on the arm.

“Only you, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo brushed his cheek against his shoulder fondly. “So don’t worry about me.”

A car came by. The hazard lights only reached the very edges of their toes. The tinkle of the store bell followed. The clouds had cleared; and there was moonlight. Chanyeol wrapped an arm over Kyungsoo's shoulder and sent a quick prayer to God in the hopes that he wouldn't ever forget this cinematic moment for the rest of his life. 

This beautiful wonderful moment where everything, for once, felt just _right._

They returned to a house fully lit and rocking with music. The party was still raging on clearly unbothered by Chanyeol’s absence. Chanyeol wasn’t that bothered either - not when all he wanted to do was spend his whole night holding his boyfriend’s hand. 

"Before we go inside,” Kyungsoo stopped him just moments after leaving the car. “I want to tell you something."

“Shoot.” 

“It's about your birthday present. I know I told you that I am giving it to you tomorrow because that is your actual birthday… but… well I would like to give it to you now because I feel like it's time. Is that okay?"

Chanyeol, who had punted that his present was going to be sexual, was rapidly beginning to think that it _wasn’t_. He looked around the empty front yard and the silent drive way. Unless of course, it was - and Kyungsoo, for all his godly graces, was actually a little freaky too. Nothing wrong with that. 

"Sure babe." He looked around. "So where is it?"

“Um,” Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “Wait here and I’ll get it.”

Then he ran off. Presumably to his car which was parked some way down the street. Chanyeol waited for him whilst sitting on the hood of his car. He became a little impatient that he genuinely thought that Kyungsoo had actually ran off - but then he emerged finally, heavily breathing, distilling that panic and turning it fast into undivided interest at the sight of the _acoustic guitar_ he was carrying.

“So - uh.” Kyungsoo was beaming _wide_ as he spoke, “Ever since the summer, I’ve been trying to learn guitar by myself and although I can do a little… I really _wanted_ to learn a whole song to play you. Hyunsik has actually been teaching me for a few weeks now and I think I’m finally here with this one. This is just my thank you to you. My thank you for letting me celebrate your birthday with you. For always enjoying my singing… and for being my boyfriend.”

Kyungsoo strummed the guitar.

“I hope you like it. Um, we can do it inside if you want!”

“No.” Chanyeol was wide-eyed as he shook his head. “Do it. Right now. Right here.” He wouldn’t share this moment, their moment, with those idiots.

And so, against the distant sound of hard dirty EDM in the background, Kyungsoo sang. For him. For Park Chanyeol.

Yeah, really.

There were very few equivalents in the world to describe what Chanyeol went through next. Picture it: he was there, leaning on the hood of his car, as the Boy of his Life sang a love song for him, acoustic- youtuber style, in the cold of November, every word dedicated - every riff absolutely tone perfect.

An asteroid could’ve fallen right out of the sky there and then and Chanyeol’s head wouldn’t have turned an inch.

His eyes were for Kyungsoo only and when it ended, and his beloved boyfriend stood there, still and blushing, seeking validation, Chanyeol intended to do the absolute most and _clap_ and whoop and pick him up Dirty-Dancing style.

But instead, he placed his hands over his eyes as he felt the tears come again.

_For fuck’s sake._

“Oh, Chanyeol.” He heard Kyungsoo say as he felt his head press against his boyfriend’s chest as he ran over and embraced him. 

Chanyeol reached for him immediately, letting the tears swell in his eyes as he revelled in it all, completely overwhelmed and never wanting to forget the amazing level of happiness he was feeling. It was happiness. There was no doubt about it. He could admit that this was exactly what he was sensing.

“Best present ever,” he managed, after he recovered a little and looked up at Kyungsoo, “You are really.” 

He was smiling the loveliest smile. Even beyond his pathetic tears, Chanyeol could feel his heart filling up, like a dick, but with _feelings_.

“Kyungsoo, I swear to god I lo--”

“ _CHANYEOL IS THAT YOU! BROOOOOO! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN SEXY BOY!_ ”

Kyungsoo was pushed lightly to the side as Chanyeol yelled out - 

“FUCK OFF GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THE FUCKING HOUSE I DIDN’T ASK YOU TO COME LOOK FOR ME!”

“ALRIGHT GEEZ SORRY!”

“FUCK OFF!”

“I’M GOING!”

“YOU BETTER FUCKING GO!”

The front door was shut. And with it, the moment was lost.

“God, I hate that guy. What a dicksquare.” Chanyeol mumbled, rubbing his forehead as he looked up at Kyungsoo again, “Sorry, what was I saying?” 

No answer was given. Instead, Chanyeol’s frown was softened when Kyungsoo kissed him lightly on the forehead, then lips, then just peppered like some baby with a shower of kisses to the face until he was laughing.

And then - 

“Can you do it again?”

“Kiss you?”

“No, sing.” 

“Again? Here?”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol took his phone out excitedly, “Again.”

Kyungsoo smiled at him - and he caught it on camera too. That smile, his laugh, the way he stuttered when he started, and then got into the song. Nothing dented how precious these moments were to Chanyeol. Not the darkness. Not the drunken people stumbling back and forth on the lawn.

And this time, Chanyeol did whoop and pick Kyungsoo up Dirty-Dancing style - which was unfortunately left out of the camera’s view as it dropped onto the grass, left only to pick up the loud playful laughter of two young lovers play-wrestling and the remote echoes of voices from the house telling them that they’d call the police right now for public indecency if they continued to frolic. 

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so this will be th last update for a while as i go on holiday :D
> 
> i hope you enjoy and um, this is highkey my valentines update but yeah will probably writ one of those too haha. this fic is pretty open-ended so if you want to see anything, feel free to comment and we will see what we can do ^~^ otherwise, again thanks so much for reading :)))

**Author's Note:**

> just something late and unnecessary for our love's birthday - this is just something cute :) have a good week


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